Hobson's Choice

Meet my father-in-law:

Hobson isn’t an “is” he’s a “was”. In 16th c. England, he ran a business that was the rough equivalent of Hobson’s Rent-a Horse. According to a more recent but lesser known legend, he insisted that Passover be celebrated on April 18th, that Purim be celebrated on March 18th, that Shemini Atzeretz / Simchas Torah be celebrated on October 18th and that Hanukkah be celebrated on December 18th. Some people think that his preoccupation with 18 had to do with “chai”. Indeed, because his horse rental prices were always divisible by 18 and were unusually high, they were locally referred to a chaiway robbery.